People talking bad about A-1, but those first 6 minutes +/- of Apocrypha were some of the best fighting scenes i've been.

Well majority of people tend to look at studios as one big package and don't bother to research about individual staff taking charge in the individual projects. Due to A-1's overall rather freelancy structure they are able to invite a very interesting mix of people that bring out truly amazing stuff. Of course the danger of complete opposite is there too.

But in this case Apocrypha's staff is filled with talented web gen animators that bring in creative ideas into the storyboards coupled with the talent to actually back it up. It also helps to have Shun Enokido & Takahito at the front who I think are the guys that animated several Fate Grand/Order CMs that were all in a similar style as this first episode. So as much as a mixed bag A-1 can be, there seems little to be worried about in the animation department here.

Theron, the younger looking lead in the episode is Horikawa Kunihiro, not Yoshiyuki. He appears near the very end of the episode wielding the gun. I say younger looking, because historically speaking Horikawa is actually the older of the two, while Izuminokami was made to resemble him.

I liked Hina Logi better than I expected. The transformation sequences were nice and that OP was interesting (animated cutouts over live action footage). I can't say I'm offput by cutesy SoL or modest fanservice and I didn't hate the original so I'll probably keep with this one. Plus becoming more familiar with the skill of the series composer will help me set my expectations for their involvement in the Fall adaptation of Kino's Journey.

Fox Spirit Matchmaker wasn't horrible, though the animation was often lacking. I did like Suusu and the premise so I'll at least give it another episode. It's no King's Avatar but hopefully I can increase my personal list of watchable Chinese productions to two.

Just when I thought the season was starting...modestly, to put it diplomatically, I saw Touken Ranbu. A very nice job by ufotable especially with the swordfights, as expected from the animators assigned to them. Certainly the definitive adaptation of the franchise, though I did watch all of Hanamaru (I'll never forget the cooking segment/musical number from that one).

Studio A-1 Pictures is a good studio in the sense of organizing capable people in the animation market to produce, but it's not a studio that has house talents or a group specializing in some area, such as special effects and so on. In the case of Ufotable they have some talented people both in animation and in effects, who embellish their series. This is a great differential of the studio. Like Studio Wit; If you see in Sakuga Booru the number of featured animations on Attack on Titan, and the animators who made them, you will be astonished by the very few people doing really amazing scenes. Among them: Arifumi Imail [Attack on Titan action director], Yasuyuki Ebara [also action director], Takuma Ebisu, Taki Chiba, Mitsuaki Takabe and others who are anonymously waiting for a chance. Although some names do not stand out so much, they exist, and will be in future productions where they can show what they are capable of.

This team above Studio Wit is strong enough to handle the best action scenes in the franchise. Few entertainers were invited to do the remarkable scenes. Sunrise, incredible as it may seem, also has this particularity. Even the Bones studio also has, though its biggest highlight is Yutaka Nakamura, hardly anyone could name anyone besides him. But it's worth 100. The Trigger studio also has animation directors who are also amazing animators, and entertainers formed within the studio who are starting to stand out, apart from the freelance youngsters who are always embarking on the studio's productions. But the highlight of the studio is much more your lucky to have a singles own staff with talent. I honestly do not see a problem in a studio hiring people to do their productions, as I also consider this a form of talent. The Madhouse is a studio that you will hardly say that there is someone of talent in the studio, but they are excellent producers.

Of course, I also find it a problem when a studio can not get someone of talent out of their atrium and that person stands out as being of importance to the productions. But this has been gradually changing.

I liked Hina Logi better than I expected. The transformation sequences were nice and that OP was interesting (animated cutouts over live action footage). I can't say I'm offput by cutesy SoL or modest fanservice and I didn't hate the original so I'll probably keep with this one. Plus becoming more familiar with the skill of the series composer will help me set my expectations for their involvement in the Fall adaptation of Kino's Journey.

Fox Spirit Matchmaker wasn't horrible, though the animation was often lacking. I did like Suusu and the premise so I'll at least give it another episode. It's no King's Avatar but hopefully I can increase my personal list of watchable Chinese productions to two.

Just when I thought the season was starting...modestly, to put it diplomatically, I saw Touken Ranbu. A very nice job by ufotable especially with the swordfights, as expected from the animators assigned to them. Certainly the definitive adaptation of the franchise, though I did watch all of Hanamaru (I'll never forget the cooking segment/musical number from that one).

I wouldn't say its a definitive adaptation just yet considering that it just started and we have yet to see what adjustments ufotable makes and whether they'll be good or bad. Hanamaru could also be seen as a definitive adaptation as well because it had sword fights, sword boys, and time travel which are staples of the touken ranbu franchise. But it was a more light hearted take on it just like there a light hearted sides to the touken ranbu franchise ( more so in the official anthologies ) I also believe that if it was intended to be a definitive adaptation of Touken Ranbu then Mikazuki Munechika would be the protagonist ( considering that he's the poster boy and most iconic character from the game as stated by the people that worked on the game themselves ) rather than the current protags. To be honest, I don't believe either are anime adaptations wre DEFINITIVE adaptations. They're just- adaptations.different interpretations. And that's all. My opinion though.

^Fair enough. Even if it wasn't popular in the West, Hanamaru did very well in Japan, so they definitely appealed to the franchise's many fans. But I will definitely like Katsugeki better and that seems to be how they rank on this site and the West generally (I would be surprised if Katsugeki doesn't get covered on this site where Hanamaru wasn't). That doesn't mean it isn't perfectly fine to value both or even Hanamaru over Katsugeki though.

I wouldn't say its a definitive adaptation just yet considering that it just started and we have yet to see what adjustments ufotable makes and whether they'll be good or bad. Hanamaru could also be seen as a definitive adaptation as well because it had sword fights, sword boys, and time travel which are staples of the touken ranbu franchise. But it was a more light hearted take on it just like there a light hearted sides to the touken ranbu franchise ( more so in the official anthologies ) I also believe that if it was intended to be a definitive adaptation of Touken Ranbu then Mikazuki Munechika would be the protagonist ( considering that he's the poster boy and most iconic character from the game as stated by the people that worked on the game themselves ) rather than the current protags. To be honest, I don't believe either are anime adaptations wre DEFINITIVE adaptations. They're just- adaptations.different interpretations. And that's all. My opinion though.

I dunno, Mikazuki is more of the protagonist of the game itself (though I guess there isn't exactly one protagonist in the game, is there?). Yasusada and Kashuu were good picks for Hanamaru because look at Yasusada- he looks like a typical anime protagonist! I'm not sure what the specifics were for picking the characters for the main Katsugeki group (popularity, narrative flow, or studio/producer mandate) but my guess is a mixture of all three.

Mikazuki does seem to have a significant amount of screen time carved for him in both adaptations (well, as far as we know anyway) and an adaptation starring him wouldn't be a complete surprise. I guess maybe he's the secret ace of Touken Ranbu- even just a little bit of him automatically drives people over.

You know, before I watched Katsugeki I was expecting a fujoshi oriented show with more focus on yaoi antics

Instead, I get a fairly high action show with some cool references about weapons like how Kunihiro is based of a wakazashi, a more defensive sword comapred to Kanesada who is more offensive and it's reflected in combat style. Seeing Tonbokiri was also amusing

Animation is solid and while i'm sure a fight cheorography might say they are aiming for the sword rather than the body with the fights, they have a nice kinetic feel to them

I can also see some fun character interactions that could carry the show thorugh

I wouldn't say its a definitive adaptation just yet considering that it just started and we have yet to see what adjustments ufotable makes and whether they'll be good or bad. Hanamaru could also be seen as a definitive adaptation as well because it had sword fights, sword boys, and time travel which are staples of the touken ranbu franchise. But it was a more light hearted take on it just like there a light hearted sides to the touken ranbu franchise ( more so in the official anthologies ) I also believe that if it was intended to be a definitive adaptation of Touken Ranbu then Mikazuki Munechika would be the protagonist ( considering that he's the poster boy and most iconic character from the game as stated by the people that worked on the game themselves ) rather than the current protags. To be honest, I don't believe either are anime adaptations wre DEFINITIVE adaptations. They're just- adaptations.different interpretations. And that's all. My opinion though.

I dunno, Mikazuki is more of the protagonist of the game itself (though I guess there isn't exactly one protagonist in the game, is there?). Yasusada and Kashuu were good picks for Hanamaru because look at Yasusada- he looks like a typical anime protagonist! I'm not sure what the specifics were for picking the characters for the main Katsugeki group (popularity, narrative flow, or studio/producer mandate) but my guess is a mixture of all three.

Mikazuki does seem to have a significant amount of screen time carved for him in both adaptations (well, as far as we know anyway) and an adaptation starring him wouldn't be a complete surprise. I guess maybe he's the secret ace of Touken Ranbu- even just a little bit of him automatically drives people over.

We can only handle so much of pure brilliance~

A thought occurred while I was eating dinner. Of course Mikazuki's not the main character. He's not the Luke Skywalker of this franchise- he's the Yoda. A seemingly pleasant old man who occasionally makes "sword length" jokes and laughs like an old geezer, but then reveals his overwhelming power and wisdom when you least expect it.

He can't be the main character because a main character has flaws. Mikazuki has no flaws. He's perfect.

But in this case Apocrypha's staff is filled with talented web gen animators that bring in creative ideas into the storyboards coupled with the talent to actually back it up. It also helps to have Shun Enokido & Takahito at the front who I think are the guys that animated several Fate Grand/Order CMs that were all in a similar style as this first episode. So as much as a mixed bag A-1 can be, there seems little to be worried about in the animation department here.

Everything mentioned here is why I'm especially excited for this show. Ever since that Joy of Sakuga ANN article, I've been wholeheartedly diving into the world of sakuga. That plus the fact that I love great action has me chompin at the bit for Apocrypha.

Well, Touken Ranbu isn't off to a bad start at all, but it's not quite what I was expecting. Hanamaru was so careful not to even reveal the gender of the person sending them on missions that it was almost shocking to see him named and making an in-person appearance here. And the dialog could use some work. It's a little dismaying when almost the first lines spoken are "We've got to stop the Retrograde Army!" "No need to tell me!" "But I had to tell the viewers what we're doing!"

The music was great and the animation was lovely, reminiscent of their work on Zestiria. Not enough Munechika though. I hope we get a bit more of him than a blink-or-you-miss-it shot in the ED.

Took a look at Kakegurui, and I'm not sure what I think of it. The art style is pretty ugly, but I guess it's supposed to be delving into the ugliness of people, so that's probably not really a fault. But they seem to be attempting some sort of weird eroticism that just ends up being off-putting. I'll give it a couple more episodes to either get used to it or decide it's not for me.

I can't let that dig at Selector Infected Wixoss stand. The series looked incredible, with very strong attention to light and dark, and Studio Pablo's gorgeous backgrounds (they also did backgrounds for Owari no Seraf and Flip Flappers).

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